Developer Plans Biggest Miami-Dade Live Local Act Project

A developer wants to build a 3,233-unit Live Local Act project in West Little River, marking the largest proposal under the affordable housing legislation in Miami-Dade County and likely all of South Florida. 

The proposal is for six towers reaching up to 37 stories on an 11.7-acre site at 8400 Northwest 25th Avenue in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, according to an application filed to the county on Monday. Dubbed as Holland Park, the development is designed by Arquitectonica. It also carries the label The HueHub on renderings. 

It would consist of a 26-story tower, a 29-story tower, a 33-story tower and a 35-story tower, as well as a pair of 37-story buildings. Holland Park also would have two nine-level garages with 4,249 spaces and a one-level amenity building. More than 57,000 square feet of retail space would be spread across the two tallest towers and the garages, the application shows. 

Pablo Castro owns the site through an affiliate, having paid $29.3 million for it in October, according to records. The current property includes 140 residential units, with rentals and single-family homes, as well as a church, a one-story office building and a maintenance shop. 

Castro is a mystery in South Florida real estate, as no media reports about his past real estate ventures exist. RCN Realty’s broker Ricardo Cruz, who represented Castro in the West LIttle River site purchase last year, also declined comment, only saying Castro “prefers to stay anonymous.” 

Records show Castro lists an office in North Miami. 

Attorney Anthony De Yurre, who filed the project application, deferred to Castro inquiries as to whether he is the developer or another firm would partner with him or take over development altogether. 

Castro said he isn’t immediately available for comment.  

X user Floridian Development, which uses the @FloridianDev handle, first revealed the Holland Park application. 

State lawmakers approved the Live Local Act last year. It allows developers to whiz by project approvals administratively and without going to public hearings, as well as to get significant wiggle room on site zoning restrictions. In exchange, developers have to designate at least 65 percent of a mixed-use project for residential uses and at least 40 percent of the units for households earning no more than 120 percent of the area median income. The affordable and workforce units have to maintain below-market rate rents for a minimum of 30 years. While the below-market rate units have to be apartments, the market-priced units can be either apartments or condos. 

The Holland Park application does not specify how many units would be workforce-priced, though the state law mandates that at least 1,293 of the 3,233 units would need to be below-market rate. The filing also doesn’t clarify whether the market-rate units would be condos or apartments. 

After the state legislature tweaked the Live Local Act this year to also lift floor-area ratio development restrictions, developers have filed a flurry of applications. Some are proposing much taller buildings than allowed under site zoning. 

Under Live Local, projects can be up to the tallest height allowed within a mile of the development site and up to the highest density allowed in a municipality or county. The Holland Park site allows for up to 12-story heights, but the site at 7900 Northwest 27th Avenue is within a mile and allows for a 37-story tower. 

In Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood, Bazbaz Development wants to build a 48-story with 544 apartments under Live Local at 2110, 2118 and 2134 North Miami Avenue, as well as 2101, 2129 and 2135 Northwest Miami Court. Wynwood’s zoning permits up to 12-story buildings. 

In Bal Harbour, Whitman Family Development’s proposal for up to 275-foot tall towers at the firm’s luxury Bal Harbour Shops has touched off a firestorm between the developer and village residents and council members. Whitman sued the village this year alleging the village “promised its residents” a moratorium. For its part, the village council has adopted ordinances that could stand in the way of the project.